15 Famous Companies That Started As Something Much Different

Major cell phone maker Nokia’s history goes all the way back to the pre-telecommunications era, when in 1865 they started as a groundwood pulp mill. The company quickly expanded to build a second mill, carefully choosing one that had good resources for hydropower production. This hydropower sparked a company interest in the business of electricity generation, which was added as a business activity in 1902. But by the end of the 1910s, Nokia was struggling, and was acquired by Finnish Rubber Works in order to ensure that they could continue to get their electricity supply from Nokia. In 1922, Finnish Rubber Works also acquired Finnish Cable Works, and the three companies were eventually formed into Nokia Corporation as an industrial conglomerate in 1967. At the time, Nokia was in a variety of different industries, including cables, consumer electronics, robotics, military e...